The biggest bank heist in history (and why you've never heard of it)
In 2022 news broke that $2.5bn had been stolen in Iraq, the biggest bank heist ever. Nicolas Pelham, The Economist's Middle East correspondent, follows the money
01:41 - The investigation begins
02:28 - Where did the money come from?
03:55 - Who was Nur Zuheir?
04:29 - Following the trail in Baghdad
08:11 - Corruption in Iraq
13:21 - The government changes course
15:46 - Who is complicit, really?
16:50 - What happened to the money?
Artwork based on illustrations by Mike McQuaid
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: econ.st/3QAawvI
Sign up to 1843’s newsletter, The Extraordinary Story: econ.st/3OdEkys
The Baghdad job: who was behind history’s biggest bank heist? econ.st/44KnMoM
After 20 years of trauma, Iraq is struggling to recover:
econ.st/4757kBo
“What was once the world’s most dangerous road is lined with new real estate”-Iraq, 20 years later:
econ.st/3QajZg5
Iraq’s new prime minister vows to clean up the country: econ.st/43GURRj
The Iraqi militias are copying their overmighty cousins in Iran:
econ.st/44Afi3y
Iraq’s parliamentary plague:
econ.st/44B9uqt
Shia Muslims are no longer in the ascendant:
econ.st/44ZTWMH
How the Iraq war became a threat to American democracy:
econ.st/3Kc8Pnv
Why Baghdad may have the worst traffic in the Middle East:
econ.st/3Qb2kVE
This is why we need investigative journalism. Not click baits. Bravo! Excellent work!
its clickbait bro
@@survived4679 which country's story it is ??
@@mostlymysterious4814 USA
Phmmm
The sheer physical size of IQD 3.7trillion (USD $2.5bn) made me think that it *must* have been at least partly an electronic transaction, as it would require 74,000,000 (ie 74million) of their largest denomination (IQD 50,000) banknotes. But no: it seems that there were literal truck loads of Iraqi currency being pulled out of that bank. It just boggles the mind.
Think 🤔 the security guard got fired, I surely do 😂 crazy to think how many people and the logistics had to be involved and no one questioned why truckloads of cash was sent out of the bank
My thoughts too...when they say no guns were involved, my first thought was it was digital theft, but to discover it was cash that beggars belief. To do this scale, there had to be a lot of people being paid off. In some small way, it is a trickle down heist 😂😂
You can't really steal money from a (central) bank electronically though. Electronic money doesn't actually exist (crypto aside), it's all backed by physical cash. All of the money you have in your bank account is held in a vault somewhere, so you can't actually steal money electronically from a central bank as that's just changing numbers on a screen and the central bank could just change them back. I'm also pretty sure that a central bank doesn't have an electronic bank account.
You have a point🧐🤔
@@David-ud9ju " Electronic money doesn't actually exist (crypto aside), it's all backed by physical cash. " confidently wrong af
12 government officials signatures to clear a check are the culprit. Each taking a bribe to sign
not that simple, not possible that each and everybody of 12. Sure they could not refuse and were guaranteed safety
Yeah, thats Iraq for you. Bribes are part of daily life. Public officials dont care about their actions and its effects. If you want your papers signed, whatever they be, you pay the bribe, and go on with your day.
The "elite" hide this as a secret for centuries, this is the true story of your enslavement 👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
We’d all do the same. If I offered you $50,000 as a bribe to do a certain for me or sign something i guarantee you would.
@@tygsv4021 I don't think so. There are people who never would do. At my estimation 20%, and plus 60% who are afraid to get caught
He said it was like watching a sick Tarentino movie. You don’t want to watch it but have to see how it ends 😂😂😂😂
😆😆😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 My thoughts exactly, cmon bruh why involve mr tarantino into this 😂😂😂
Prime ministers reply about airport security sums it all for all those people who know Iraqi scams. Surely, he is invovled. Being sure about Money not leaving Airport security when he got cornered in that question is a typical response of an Iraqi scammer.
The "elite" hide this as a secret for centuries, this is the true story of your enslavement 👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
Yeah, there is no evidence....lol sadly its all over the world.
Excellent documentary and fine investigative journalism. Well done!
Very well done and thanks for your hard work!!
With markets tumbling, inflation soaring, the Fed imposing large interest-rate hike, while treasury yields are rising rapidly-which means more red ink for portfolios this quarter. How can I profit from the current volatile market, I'm still at a crossroads deciding if to liquidate my $125k bond/stocck portfolio
It comes down to technique; a downtrend gives you room to focus on the market and grow significantly in the short or long term. While it is easier to make money when the market is rising, a downtrend can still yield high returns if you have the necessary knowledge and skills. For this reason, I have been scaling up during this difficult period by working with an investment advisor; this has been the only way I have raised up to $150K in the last six months.
Smart, If i wanted to do the same with my retirement funds too, how do i get started trading?
One of the fiduciaries I deal with is Alicia Ann Jordan. Just check the name. There would be a letter with the necessary information to set up an appointment.
The same thing happened to us in Kuwait by a handful of corrupt sheikhs from the ruling family, and they were not arrested They stole hundreds of millions of dollars from an investment fund in Malaysia and from the Kuwaiti army.
1mdb?
@@haroldz123that was Malaysia
this is what The Economist should be reporting and focusing on.
Thank you for your hard work on this matter.
Getting tax before making any earnings is already an act of fraud.
Hey... any country on Earth can make its own tax policy, whatever it is. That is the prerogative of any government on Earth. It doesn't make it fraudulent. If anything, fraud is surreptitiously breaking whatever laws are in place. If it's foreign businesses subject to a prepayment of taxes, yes I will admit it sounds like they are fleecing foreign investors just for the privilege of coming in and doing business there, but it's all about the money anyway no matter which side of the issue. If you want to do business "somewhere else" you have no choice but to play by THEIR rules. As far as someplace like Iraq, what's it worth to you? It's all part of the cost of doing business.
@@bblegacy The cause and effect of these policy will have far reaching implications for the people of that country. Further more; fiat money is just paper, and the art of fraud is to operate in plain site.
@@bblegacyUS wasted billions "over there"?! Are you a child or just dumb?
That's how it works in Australia. Businesses pay quarterly (big business pays monthly) in advance based on what the tax office thinks you'll make. Then next quarter you lodge a Business Activity Statement with your income, expenses, and gst. Then you get a rebate if you paid too much, or a bill if you didn't pay enough.
@@goodsir300horrible policy....what if you die before working
Very interesting to know. Financial issues are one of the world problems around.
Great reporting on this story. You should do one on Moldova's $1 billion bank halest also.
Especially because Moldova’s heist is arguably bigger, considering that Iraq’s economy is 15 times larger than Moldova’s. The amount stolen at the time accounted for 12% of Moldova’s GDP, while this Iraq heist is a bit more than 1% of Iraq’s GDP
@@eugenpapuha and the drama is not over yet, its still ongoing... they should make a Netflix show about it!
Crazy that there are people that could buy Moldova's economy
So not a bank heist, but just cash withdrawals of the proceeds of some unstated kind of fraud . Cash withdrawals suffer the huge drawback of being very difficult to spend or exchange outside the country that issued the cash, thus giving credance to being invested or spent there . Because it would be too easy to identify any foreign deposit of such huges piles of Iraqi bank notes without traceable paperwork .
Some of the withdrawals may even have been legal. It is quite likely that the recipients had a limited time in which they could claim their rebate payments, and that after that they reverted to the government.
For the piece I've finally decided to subscribe 😃 Well done 👏🏽❤🙌🏽
Ultimately, that so many competing political factions in Iraq are alleged to be involved shows their willingness to continue to collude for financial gain.
Shiia and arapization ruined Mesopotamia iraq
The "elite" hide this as a secret for centuries, this is the true story of your enslavement 👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
They also collude in hiding the money trail such that no one can figure out where the money went to. Probably a lot of it goes into offshore accounts. It is said that there is enough money hidden in offshore accounts to pay off all the debts of all the governments.
Mind blowing documentary 👌 🙌 👏 🙏
When Nicholas Pelham described an elite who were all on the take, my immediate thought was of the MPs expenses scandal.
This happens everywhere. i worked within a UK university, and saw/heard things that made me think i was back in South Africa. London university's selling off property assets to bolster profits in the short term . Then there is the "private" water companies selling reservoir properties (future water storage) to create short term profit for share holders.
You are generalizing South Africa my friend. You just made it seem as SA or maybe African nations are the benchmark of corruption. The western powers are just as if not more corrupt. Remember Panama papers and Pandora papers. Lets talk about how the Americas will fund wars to ensure their arms manufacturers are in business and then once the war ends in the way they prefer, they place their puppets so that they get all the contracts for reconstruction and resources as a "thank you"
Yep this is happening under uk and USA Supervis similar to Africa
@@mohanedhassan4743 yes, but a country needs to take responsibility of their own moral failings. It should not be up to the UK and US to fix corruption in the east.
@@mangs9940 The Iraqi government does not fix any of the country's problems - it is either incapable or corrupt.
How about a senior administrator at a NHS hospital selling details of a celebrity's treatment to the tabloids ? I could name names, times and places.
No matter how fool proof the system be… someone, somewhere, sometime will definitely find a loophole and make use of it.
Astutely documented in the presence of filth and greed and downright gross malpractice by officials who ARE ALSO RECEIVING A SALARY !! How do you stay composed enough not to punch them and then string them up in the public square to stand trial by the hard working people paying their salaries!
Amen 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🙌🏽
You can't punch them cuz All factions are involved and they can let you rot in jail. The laws are Only for the common hard working people. What else is new in a corrupt gov? Same old story for a few millennia.
great investigation and story telling
Interesting story, but I think there are much bigger bank heists/corruption in the past, let's take Bank of Credit and Commerece Internation BCCI based in the UAE, it went bust owing $20bn unaccounted for. Another case in South Sudan the newly created country whislt not exactly a bank heist, $60bln in donations had been stolen by people in power. Worth looking into those. All the best
Great video! The fact that about a dozen signatures were needed for each cheque and that could take time. It leads me to believe that only people at the very top of the government could circumvent these obstacles quickly. The money is then distributed to all kinds of companies. As well, there would be lots of paperwork involved to obscure where the money went to. Hence I think that only the very top people in the government were involved in grabbing the money. The money is then funneled through lots of companies and likely ends up in offshore accounts. These offshore accounts again belong to companies. These companies are in turn owned by other companies. So it is almost impossible to track where the money went. I learned this from the Panama papers video. This money transfer had to be an inside job.
I doubt the money was moved, but redistributed to accounts within the bank. Must have taken years of planning and preparation. Maybe the money was already gone...
That's an interesting thought
Wonderful reporting.
Yes, truly amazing. 😂😂
The fact that ol' mate had a ticket to London must tell you something
There's nowhere better on earth to launder money than the City of London 👍
The biggest bank heist is when Too Big to Fail took over all the small banks. Let's get serious here.
huuuurrr goldman sachs bad amirite???? pls upvote
Look mate, this is The Economist, they deal in proven facts. There are plenty of other sites for conspiracy theories and "alternative facts". It appears you are into that sort of thing, so I suggest you put on your tin foil hat and head over to those sites. 🙂
Mmmm
@@igisanchez265Yes, goldman sachs bad boy, very naughty. OP is unironically right though.
Nah. It’s go to be fed now.
I think Lebanon and the estimated $40-$80 Billion of USD deposits in Lebanese banks will be an even better episode.
What do you mean?
Ok you have my interest, where and how did you hear about this? They totally should make a doc about it
173 billions not 80 or 40....
@@alexiosleonidas7410 whoa 😳
😅
All the elite factions are on the same side: their own. Sounds familiar...
Great job
An amazing analysis! Well done again The Economist.
How? They answered zero questions.
"Underneath their furious opposition, they actually had a lot in common. They were part of the same [ ] elite. They sent their kids to same schools. ... At one point it dawned on me that this was not really a system of two camps. This was a system in which everyone was on the make. " Sound familiar ???
?
America
Great Documentary!
In Zimbabwe us15 billion just vanished from diamond proceeds
Interesting information
Please make an edition on the current issue on Bank of Japan, I’m an economist subscriber, thank you!❤
أشعر بالدهشة للغاية من أن مجلة "ذي إيكونوميست"، الناشر الشهير، قامت بهذا التحقيق الشامل ولكنها لم تذكر المشتبه الرئيسي في سرقة 2.5 مليار دولار، وهما شاكر الزبيدي، المدير العام للهيئة الضرائب ، وهادي العامري، زعيم ميليشيا الفتح. هذه المعلومات معروفة جيدًا في العراق، فكيف لم تلاحظ المجلة هذه الحقيقة الواضحة؟ ربما تم التاثير على الصحفيون بحذف أسماء هؤلاء السياسيين الفاسدين؟
Whats the point iraq is deemed anyways
Antoine Lavoisier: "Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme" - "Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed."
And to think the Iran - Iraq war was not so long ago. The Iranians are using Iraq for sure.
And now we all hear this masterpiece for the 1st time 🥶
Thank youuu
This $1Billion was the Money paid by Qatar for the Ramson of some Qatari Royals who where kidnapped by terrorists while camping in the desert, one of the man kidnapped is the uncle of Minister of Finance of Qatar....the deal involved $1billion that was sent to Iraq Central Bank and to give the 4 Walls, the 4 Walls refers to the military position that Qatar held in Sirya, which that Qatar had to withdraw its troops and not getting involved in the Syrian War... that's what made all Gulf countries to cut ties with Qatar because this move was seem as supporting the Terrorists... That's why when the Gulf Nations cut tie with Qatar, they said that Qatar is Supporting Terrorists, Which Qatar denied... The money was withdrawn through companies to avoid raising suspicious because the real beneficiary of This Money are terrorists in Syria... you'll see, soon the Middle East Will be destabilized again
Now there’s the Hamas conflict going on lol. Spot on bro
Excellent Journalism !
Thank= for an excellent video. A Scam of Beauty!
Highly interesting!
4:36 I thought I heard General Commission for Taxis
A movie should be made.
12:30 Which brand of the watch was the judge wearing?
3:03 really? I'm guessing Hateful Eight, cause that's the only one I ever really felt like it was maybe a bit too much.
BBC recently published a documentary film about the hacking of reserve funds from the central bank in Bangladesh which was occurred back in 2015, it created a massive headline around the world and still today no money has been recovered yet. The government of Bangladesh stated that time approximately 700 million dollars were hacked and due to unavailability of necessary resources government couldn’t be able to get the money back. But, in general perspectives there are talks about the lyings of the numbers of money stolen and there are also pretty big noises about the current Bangladesh’s prime minister’s son’s might be involved with this matter and that got a big portion of the stolen funds which may be hidden in foreign nations on some form of investments into stocks or bonds or otherwise.
Is that the one done by the North Koreans? Most of that never actually cleared through the banks, but it would have been converted into crypto and it's the North Koreans who have it, so very unlikely to find out what's going on there.
China is dumping large amounts of cash into Iraq as part of the belt and road program .Some of those big infrastructure projects that are happening are linked to this investment .
Almost everyone, including the media, is anticipating a market catastrophe, and as a result, many are turning a blind eye to the opportunities in the market. I began investing in stocks and Defi earlier this year and it is the best choice I've ever made. My portfolio is rounding up to almost a million and I have realized that when a stock makes it to the news, chances are you’re quite late to the party, the idea is to get in early on blue chips before it becomes public. There are lots of life changing opportunities in the market, maximize it
What opportunities are there in the market and how do I profit from it?
@@MariannThygesen You can make a lot of money from the market regardless of whether it strengthens or crashes. The key is to be well positioned.
@@CoryLafund I will really like to know how this actually work
@@MariannThygesenI’ll simply suggest you go to a professional who understands the market
@@CoryLafundI’ll appreciate it if you can recommend any?
This is amazing news
This story must be told through a web series. 😂
You know what's funny, every problem that occurs in Iraq ties back to the US, there's no escape from it
Is that included the tribalism?
@@oneshothunter9877 yeah actually, tribes already existed but were bolstered by the british empire and then america
Only democracy has a higher degree of transparency. It's hard for criminals to operate in a transparent environment. So, work on that instead of blaming others for your own problems. Nothing is easy or free in this world.
American billionaires shaking now
@@talkinghand4839if more than a million people are murdered in cold blood, it's a bit harsh to say "get over it and stop pointing fingers".
what a story. Unreal.
Everybody is complicit and complacent. Hello from the Lebanese counterpart!
Sick Torantiino
Did The Economist Podcast at summer holidays?
What has The Economist help uncover exactly, other than interviewing all the parties that had some oversight and are now just pointing fingers at each other. Developed countries will always harbour such criminals because a lot of such heist money flows back into those countries which is beneficial to their economies.
Bro thinks he's opporeihiemer 💀
@@littledudefromacrossthestr5755 Who is Opporeihiemer. You mean Oppenheim or Oppenheimer? Neither are award winning journalist so you still don't make sense.
@@ryanreedgibson Oppenheimer
One benefit of this video is to bring awareness to what happened
What are they meant to do? Arrest the culprits or what exactly? All they can do is to share awareness and this is it.
Embedded subtitles could be bigger. The KZhead comments have a bigger sized font.
In 2003 we thought that we got rid of Saddam but in 2023 we see every city has multiple Saddams
Hank was a treasure no question.Its astonishing that no one here commends the bass player who is an absolute icon
That judge, the fur*er, did not even have any knowledge of what he was speaking! he was reading from a paper :D
I MDB Bank Heist in Malaysia was the greatest story.
Also happened in Bangladesh 🇧🇩
Zuhir's bail was probably those two stacks of money.
Wow!😮
I thought it was that one in Belgium
If this shyte was done during Saddam Husseins regime, elite or not, they'd be starved in jails for 2-3 years before a shadow of their selves would be seen having their hands chopped off on live TV, as punishment for the crime of stealing.
Can I quote from the video?
هذي ولاشي عدنا 😅😅
What I don't understand is, what can you do with Iraqi Dinars ourside of Iraq ? I don't think it's a convertible currency. You can't just go to a Swiss bank with a car load of Dinars and convert them to Swiss Francs. So the whole airport story doesn't really make sense - unless it was a domestic flight of course. Anyhoo this is probably a very long and convoluted story to tell in a 18min video.
Oh, we heard about it, just under a different name. We know it as TARP or EESA
Talk about 2008 financial melt down, when more than 30 trillion dollars disappeared. That is the heist no one talks about.
this sounds like a scenairo from catch me if you can movie...
Nice
Prayers for the suffering
🙏🏻
You should make a vdo of looting BANGLADESH BANK
Video content itself suggest that "(and why you've never heard of it)" part is a very wrong statement. New management even made a TV conference displaying recovered money while claiming they will surely recover the rest. If we did not heard of it it is for the same reason why we did not heard many other news... because we are civilians who do not track every news out there and we have a life. Of course what anybody did not hear is indeed is not the event itself but its specifics
Wasn’t the 2008 crash the biggest heist in history? Just a thought.
No,it was when they swapped precious metals for paper,digits and tokens. Setting us up for a big fall.
In some ways - yes. The banks and financial institutions lost money, got repaid, took profits and bonuses, and finally grabbed some more "financial easing" money, leaving us with the bill. Cost taxpayers and our government *over 1.3 Trillion Dollars* - when the first initial estimate to "fix the lending market was *750 Million Dollars (US)* . If the decision had been made when the first signs of trouble, that would have been $ 750 Million, spent very well for our economy and wellbeing.
Bro really just walked into a bank and withdrew $2.5B like it was nothing
A Bank crash/crash in the stock or real estate markets has less of an immediate impact on people's standard of living than inflation or currency devaluation. That the market is so negative at the moment shouldn't be shocking. If we are to survive in this economy, we need assistance right away. The ETF and stock markets are still quite volatile, just like the property market. Now all that's left of my $370K portfolio is ruins.
Why accepted non educated and experienced person no startup before 50 year bigger than 1 million value. It gives motivation to whole world to go in that direction.
Obviously some of the money embezzlers are proxies to Americans, & possibly Iranians & Informal American-Iranian route. The documents are dated 2021/22. No mention of the fortunes stolen, relocated & wiped out by the Americans following their war. Iraq does need a proper governance model, with better wealth & economic management. Digitisation is crucial for upgrading, efficiency & visibility for long-term planning & short-term responsiveness.📊
I just want to say: Hello.
So sad
Badhdad Bob did the Badhdad Job. That's how he retired comfortably in QAE.
BBC and Economist need to ask themselves, why do all financial criminals go and hide in your country?
Surprised; could you imagine your own country; more money going somewhere and none coming in
How do you exchange that much of a currency no one really wants ?
Piece a cake😂😂In india the PM looted $2 billion right from people in the middle of the Covid 2nd wave and he has told the court that it's a private fund and totally got away with it🤪Not to mention the other billions that went missing from the reserve Bank of India on a regular basis, starting from the demonetisation period🌝
FTX stole 8 billion dollars in crypto. I think that´s the biggest heist.
Any books that I can get to read on the issue. Please let there be a book like Billion Dollar Whale. Fr
He stolen since 1971 or 1972, but is too late.
2023(G) “Respect and dignity.” Furthermore:
Abusive financial control.💔💔.
Wow wow wow